Stathis’ head was sore and aching, still fuzzy from last night’s lack of sleep. The heat pounded down without mercy, the black sand shifting underfoot. The area they were in was more ruin-filled than the empty desert they had been moving through – stubby pillars and fragments of building poked up from amongst the black sand, the stuff having scoured into every crack and gap in the stone, making the pale stone look diseased and sick.

It was hard to tell what the ruins had once been – some of the pillars and columns looked quite large, but whether they had been supporting buildings, or statue, or for some other purpose, was impossible to say. Wherever there were ruined walls meeting, the corners were filled with thick drifts of sand, piling up as high as the walls, several times higher than Stathis’ head. Some of the more adventurous scouts were climbing up onto the ruins, until stone cracked and gave way, sand rushing out.

Zarazonnia was easy to follow, leaving a sinuous curve in the black sand, a twisting series of “S” shapes, a path that Stathis was glad to follow. Janaxia was back on her platform, casually drifting along, looking even more imperious than normal, her robes covered with darkly gleaming gems, face covered by a dark veil, her horns wrapped in even more gold than usual. Stathis couldn’t see if she was even awake, or simple dozing, letting the disc do all the work of supporting and carrying her. Sen was fanning her, on hand with cool water, should it be needed.

Sudden shouts drew Stathis’ attention, as more ancient masonry gave way and people vanished into the sand as it suddenly spilled down, needing to be plucked out. The rest of the army was still marching onwards, although they were clustered more tightly together, weapons at the ready – was there something here that might attack them? It certainly looked old enough to be haunted or have some kind of guardians.

Stathis felt her footing suddenly change, becoming more stable, stone rather than sand. It made it a lot easier to walk! Was it some kind of grand avenue? Ruined buildings were lined up on either side of her, or at least the tattered and ragged remnants of them. Most looked like they had been quite large, at least as much as it was possible to tell from the remnants left. They didn’t look like the elegant curves of elven architecture, or the functional sturdiness of Per Tolith. The parts left, even worn smooth by sand, still looked impressively jagged, with stubby spikes and softly jagged edges. Something else to ask Hakara about, maybe?

A wind blew, gritty sand making Stathis wince and look away, covering her eyes. A murmured spell from Janaxia protected her and Sen from the worst of it, but a thick haze cut vision down to almost nothing. Stathis half-drew her sword, just in case it was going to be used for an ambush, but she couldn’t hear the sounds of combat, just the sounds of confusion as everyone stumbled around.

She covered her mouth with her other hand, trying to keep the sand from blowing in. ‘You OK up there?’

This is scarcely ideal travelling weather. But I would suspect that we are close to our destination. At the least, there seems to be little else of interest out here. Even by ruinous standards, these are rather dreary, and the sand does little to improve matters.

The wind was blowing hard enough that Stathis didn’t open her mouth, not wanting to choke and splutter on sand, but she agreed.

I wonder what happened here? Some disaster, no doubt. It must have once been quite grand. Although I imagine it has been thoroughly stripped since.

The wind died down, Stathis spitting out a wad of sand that had forced itself into her mouth. ‘Hopefully any guardians have been defeated as well! Golems are always a pain to fight. Although I’d hope that Zarazonnia takes care of anything like that.’

‘She certainly does look a fearsome opponent. It would be helpful if she could be, ah, targeted somewhat.’

‘You mean get her to kill Poratia? I’m not going to argue with that. Managed to figure out what happened last night yet?’

A look of irritation crossed Janaxia’s face. ‘Yes, that was somewhat concerning. My concentration must have slipped, that I was able to be ensorcelled so easily. Although it was a remarkably restful sleep.’

‘Those shadows were no joke! What were there? And is there any way to defeat them? The damn things kept regenerating whenever I stabbed them.’

‘Yes, they are rather hardy. But they are slow, and not that adept at combat.’

‘That didn’t help much! Your book ate one of them. If it happens again, I suppose I’ll have to bash them with that.’

Janaxia had the book on her lap and flicked it, the pages ruffling. ‘Kindly do not! It is an antique, and I would prefer it not to be damaged by it being used as a crude bludgeon.’

‘Well, it seemed to regenerate well enough after that time it got destroyed.’

That was somewhat undignified for me! And your fault. ‘Having to go without a voice was overly vexatious. So I would rather it not be used as a weapon.’ She tapped it again, the pages slapping together, metal clicking into place as it locked shut. Janaxia stowed it securely on her waist, chains connecting it to her belt.

‘It is indeed possible that there will be future attacks. It would be… appreciated… if you were to stand guard? Although I will try to do so as well. Perhaps if you were to rest during the days?’

‘Could you at least summon up Mavrosa again? Be easier than walking everywhere.’

Janaxia sighed, her hair rippling. ‘Very well, if you insist, I suppose that is fair. But I would appreciate it if you were to stay close.’

‘Not really got anywhere else to go! So who do you think might be summoning those things?’

Janaxia tossed her hair, horn-medallions glinting in the sun. ‘Possibly one of my siblings. Or maybe one of Zarazonnia’s allies desires me gone? Somewhat inconvenient, either way. Although somewhat flattering – the Obsidian Assassins are not easy to conjure.’

‘See if you can think of any way to deal with them more permanently! Getting attacked by magical assassins all the time is going to be a problem. Especially if they get conjured up right up close to you again. Makes it hard to protect you when they start off a few paces away.’

The air started to shimmer as Mavrosa was summoned, appearing with a wicker, and letting Stathis mount her. It was a lot easier mounted than being on foot!

They kept moving through the ruins – when fully active, the place must have had a large population. Where had the food come from? Either magically sourced, transported, or the desert hadn’t been a desert back then, like Sen had said.

A long dune blocked their vision – she could see the tops of crenelations poking through the sand. Was it an ancient wall, buried beneath sand? Stathis looked around – she could see the dune curving around to both sides, but there was no sign of what was inside.

Zarazonnia and her followers led the way, Zarazonnia slithering forward without hesitation, her large body making her easy to follow. Janaxia’s disc changed direction, sliding forward, Mavrosa keeping up without needing any further instructions. The other groups followed as well, having to move through the narrower gap of the dune-walls.

Even on Mavrosa, Stathis could feel a change in the sand beneath her feet, Mavrosa moving awkwardly and sending out plumes of sand, trying not to sink. Ahead of them was a circular hole, where it looked like something had punched down into the ground, a vast pit yawning ahead of them. Any movement sent more sand cascading downwards into the pit, groups having to stay together or risk being sucked downwards into the darkness.

Zarazonnia had to keep moving, her serpentine rear flicking back and forth as her own weight threatened to pull her under the sands. She drew all of her swords, the metal catching the sunlight, each shimmering with different colours before slicing them through the air in a complicated weave of metal, the bright after-images leaving lines hovering in the air.

Sand hissed and ground against sand, the ground shifting and making Mavrosa step nervously, while Janaxia lounged on her platform, looking entirely unconcerned. At the bottom of the pit, from out of the dark sand, white stone started to appear – a simple and functional curve of rock, shaped from a single piece of stone. It was covered with angular hacks and slashes, the shapes appearing to crawl, making Stathis’ eyes water. The sand continued to seethe and hiss, forming itself into a pillar beneath the gateway that was emerging from beneath the sand, more of the stuff sloughing away, back into the pit.

The shape that emerged was a huge gateway, easily large enough to be the main entranceway to a city, except currently blocked by solid stone with a line carved down the middle. At the top was a large lintel-stone, a deep notch looking like the keystone was missing. Zarazonnia’s swords continued to carve a spell into the air, the glowing lines persisting without fading as the sand solidified into solid, gleaming obsidian. It was suspended in the centre of the pit, more and more sand spiralling downwards, everyone having to step backwards or risk getting sucked in. Stathis heard a scream, as someone didn’t move fast enough and was consumed, falling into the dark spiral.

Several robed figures took their places around Zarazonnia, wands glowing with light as they added their own efforts to the spellcasting.

‘Any idea what’s going on?’’

It appears very advanced. Perhaps that gateway was submerged here to protect it? I am impressed that Zarazonnia appears to have mastered both martial skills and the arcane arts. Although that is possibly due to her demonic status, I would imagine a large amount of it is natural to her kind.

From the central pillar, more sand streamed outwards, flash-melting into obsidian, forming a bridge to more solid ground.

The lintel started to throb with red light, the wizards around Zarazonnia continuing their spell, slowly advancing over the bridge, Zarazonnia close behind. A bolt of lightning shot out, landing between them – when the bright flash had faded from Stathis’ view, she could see that several of the wizards were lying on the floor, smoke rising from their bodies, either dead or unconscious. Another bolt shot out, but a bubble of arcane energy shimmered into existence, absorbing the shattering bolt of energy.

Zarazonnia swung her swords, using them to block another strike of lightning. The carved crack in the centre of the gateway was starting to glow now, and Stathis could hear the creak of stone-on-stone. The gateway started to swing open, the halves dividing, opening up to reveal swirling grey emptiness.

‘Today, we leave the black wastes of Setha!’ Magically amplified, Zarazonnia’s voice echoed around somehow, overpowering the slithering hiss of sand. ‘Today, we reclaim our birthright! The rest of the world, left to those with no desire to fight! They will fall to our own power, kept bound behind the black wastes for far too long!’

The gateway was fully open now, lines of magical energy propping the doors open. Some of Zarazonnia’s followers formed up and advanced – as soon as they walked through the shimmering haze, they vanished from view. Zarazonnia turned and gestured with her swords.

‘I promised you the world, and I will deliver! Follow me, and the world shall be yours, as it was promised all those years ago!’

Stathis glanced over at Janaxia – her eyes were gleaming emerald green, her lips a vivid red, horns glossy black. Although she looked largely unconcerned, checking her nails, permitting Sen to pour her some drink. Was that some subtle political move, or was she actually just bored? Either way, other soldiers were advancing into the gateway, gestured onwards by Zarazonnia.

Janaxia’s disk started to move forward, Stathis using the reins to get Mavrosa to follow, falling into line behind a group wearing bronze-scaled armour, carrying long pikes over their shoulders, their armour clanking with every step. Stathis found the sound oddly relaxing, reminiscent of many childhood marches.

‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’

Unless you wish to be left here, then I think there is little choice. Wherever we end up, it will doubtless be more hospitable than here.

‘True. But you always get a bit weird around magical stuff. Let me know if you feeling strange or anything, OK?’

Janaxia’s disc moved forward with sudden speed, as Janaxia ignored her. Up close, the sheer size of the gate was more obvious – a giant could easily fit through, probably even two abreast! As they passed Zarazonnia, still gesturing with her blades, who smiled down at them, gesturing with her head, making her hair whip about.

The pikemen started to march through the gate, each rank vanishing in turn, disappearing completely – their pikes simply blinked out of existence as they moved into the misty portal.

Janaxia moved ahead, her supporting disc vanishing along with her. Mavrosa surged forward, moving into a canter, nose touching the portal.

The heat suddenly vanished, to be replaced by a comfortable coolness. It seemed dark, until her eyes managed to adjust to the change in light. She was in a massive stone passageway, a vast hallway, so high that she couldn’t see the top. The sounds of boots and armour echoed around the space, the stone exaggerating the noise. The passageway was flat, making it impossible to see how far ahead it stretched.

After the crushing desert heat, the stony coolness was a blessed relief. There was an indignant splutter from in front of her, and Mavrosa suddenly stopped. Janaxia was slumped on the ground, Sen helping her up.

‘Your platform-thing not make it through?’

Janaxia wasn’t fast enough to dodge a slurping lick from Mavrosa, her hair getting caught up by the fat, wet tongue. She made a disgusted noise, trying to push Mavrosa away without success, until Stathis pulled on the reins to make Mavrosa move.

It must be some strange effect of the magic here!

‘Sure. You want to hop on the back, or going to summon that thing again?’

Another group of soldiers started appearing behind them. Stathis moved Mavrosa to the side, using the horse to shield Sen and Janaxia from the marching soldiers. Janaxia cleaned the slobber from her hair before starting to cast a spell again. Her eyes turned jet-black, the harsh un-words from her throat pounding into Stathis’ head.

Darkness formed beneath her feet, lifting her upwards. Through Janaxia’s silks, Stathis could see her tattoo – the darkness throbbed with a regular beat, probably echoing her heartbeat. Janaxia caught her looking and preened, tightening her silks against her body. The darkness was thick enough to be seen through the silks, like an anti-light. She settled herself back onto the platform, silks clinging to her legs in an enticing fashion. Sen climbed up behind her, looking somewhat less signified until she was able to rearrange her own clothing.

Hmph. A somewhat irritating inconvenience. Now, shall we continue?

The disc started to move forward again, rising higher upwards than before. The surface seemed less smooth than before, little spikes and ripples poking out from it.

‘Are you sure that thing’s under control? It looks a little… spiky?’

There is no need to cast aspersions upon my casting prowess! I have fully mastered this spell.

‘If you say so. Just don’t fly to high, in case something activates or dispels it or something. Just be careful – we don’t know what’s going on.’

Hmmm, true. Although this place does look perhaps a little familiar? I shall think upon it.

The disc shot forward, weaving around other soldiers, hovering over their heads. Stathis spurred Mavrosa into action again, moving more sedately.